Yellow, purple, white and red silky petals are lifted on slender stems to greet the blue dome of the sky. They seem like butterfly wings that might blow away in the lightest breeze. Yet these delicate flowers live in a bare, rocky landscape high in the mountains, where snow drifts still remains in the deep valleys long after winter has gone, where the temperature difference between night and day is extreme, and the winds blow fiercely. It is this harsh habitat that distinguishes alpine flowers from other species. They flourish here in the thin soil of alpine meadows between the treeline and the permanent snow line (nival). As altitude increases temperatures fall, limiting the period in which vegetation can grow, flower and seed. This means that mountain vegetation varies widely, with different species growing at different altitudes, so as you climb higher the flowers constantly change in colour, size and abundance. The great diversity of alpine flower species are each adapted to cope with differing amounts of snow and rain, wind speeds and temperatures.

Turkey is a country of mountains and high plateaus, with an average altitude of 1132 metres. One fourth of its area is over 1500 metres in height, and one tenth consists of high mountains. It also encompasses three major flora zones, due to wide variations in mountain height and climatic conditions, and is therefore it is one of the world's most important regions in terms of alpine flower species. Altitude is the foremost factor in the diversification of alpine plants. The first to flower are those in the mountains in the Mediterranean region. As the snows begin to melt in March, the flowers at a lower altitude appear first. Bulbous plants in particular carpet these mountains with flowers in March and April, followed in turn by those in the mountains of the Aegean, central, northern and eastern regions. The yellow, purple and white blossoms of crocuses, scillas, winter aconites and grape hyacinths transform the mountains into flower gardens. Alpine flowers at their most exuberant from mid-May to mid-July, when the snow is receding rapidly towards the peaks.

Rocky escarpments, crevices between rocks and stones, and the banks of glacier lakes and streams are embroidered in a myriad intricate patterns by alpine flowers. At this special time Turkey is transformed into a garden of dream-like beauty.

* Ali Ihsan Gökçen is a photographer